A day after Alabama basketball signed four new members to its 2020 recruiting class, the Crimson Tide’s upcoming roster is beginning to take better shape.
Along with the four new additions, Wednesday also saw freshman guard Jaylen Forbes enter his name into the NCAA transfer portal. Forbes joins fellow freshman Raymond Hawkins as the two Crimson Tide players who have entered the portal this offseason.
Alabama could see more departures as Kira Lewis Jr., John Petty Jr. and Herbert Jones all entered their names in the NBA draft without hiring agents. Each member of that trio has the ability to withdraw their names and return to college next season provided they do so by the June 15 deadline.
Accounting for the two impending transfers and four new additions, Alabama’s current scholarship count is at 15 players, two over the NCAA limit. Of course, if at least two of the three potential draftees elect to begin their professional careers, the Crimson Tide will be able to make the numbers work.
During a Thursday teleconference with local reporters, Nate Oats said he did not have a clear update on what each potential draftee’s intentions were. The Alabama head coach said he does not expect a clear answer on that question until the NBA announces a new date and order for this year’s draft. The league is currently in a bit of a limbo as play has been suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Lewis appears to be the most certain to leave the program as he has been widely projected as a first-round pick in this year’s draft. Last season the sophomore point guard earned first-team All-SEC honors averaging 18.5 points and 5.2 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc.
“Obviously Kira is leaning more to being a first-round lock,” Oats said. “Him and his family got a decision to make based on the information they’re getting. They’ve got to decide whether he’s staying or going.”
Things get a bit more interesting regarding Petty, who has seen his name projected as a late second-round selection but is not as certain to be drafted as Lewis. Petty ranked No. 9 in the nation shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc last season. He also averaged 14.5 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds.
“With Petty’s situation, I thought he had a really good year,” Oats said. “I think he’s back on NBA teams’ radar. But first-round picks are guaranteed money, second-round picks are not. Some early second-round picks they do give them guaranteed contracts. It’s one of those deals where if you’ve got guaranteed money, you should probably go. If you don’t, in my opinion, you probably shouldn’t. But again, that’s a personal decision that they’ve got to make. I think John and his mother are pretty smart people that I think will make a good decision. I don’t think they know what they’re doing yet. They’ve got to get more data.”
Alabama likely knows it will get at least one of its potential draftees back as Jones is expected to withdraw his name at some point. The defensive forward has not been projected to be selected in this year’s draft after battling through multiple injuries last year. Thursday, Oats said he feels Jones and his family are “not going to make a dumb decision.”
Oats indicated Thursday that Alabama was “almost done” with its 2020 recruiting class while leaving the door open for another possible addition if one were to arise. However, that situation would obviously revolve around how many potential draftees return.
“I think we’ve got most of what we looked at," Oats said. "I think that if there’s a no-brainer that pops up or if there is just somebody that we’ve been heavily involved with… I would say that we’re almost done, and if these are the five that we got we’re ecstatic about the five that we’ve got."
Assuming more than one potential draftee withdraws their name and returns to Alabama, the Crimson Tide might run into a numbers problem. Oats also hinted at the possibility of other players deciding to transfer from the program in the future, stating he’s talked to a couple of players about the possibility of a decreased role next season.
On top of adding a star-studded five-man class in 2020, Alabama will also see the emergence of former McDonalds All-American Jahvon Quinerly, who sat out last season after transferring from Villanova. Four-star forward Juwan Gary and JUCO All-American James Rojas will also be returning from season-ending knee injuries they suffered during the fall.
Oats said his goal is to be honest with all of his players while helping them find the situation that puts them in the best position for their future moving forward.
“I don’t want any kid coming into our program under the pretense of me lying, whether it’s a recruit or a returner,” Oats said. “I don’t know what all their roles are going to be. I do know that it’s going to be a lot harder for some guys who maybe had a more significant role last year. They may not have that role. Shoot, I’m honest with them.”
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Andrew Bone, of BamaInsider.com, is a real estate broker in the state of Alabama.
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